The Lone Wolf
by Sailor Wolf4
Summary: This is a series of episodic one-shots about my OC and The Doctor. The stories are in chronological order beginning from the moment they met to whenever I decide to end everything. This is AU to Claraverse though Clara will make at least two or three cameo appearances. OC/Doctor friendship but eventual OC/Doctor romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Coffee**

**Author's Muse: **_I've attempted several different Doctor Who stories before, but none have seem to catch on until now. This takes place before Claraverse and takes an alternate timeline beyond. This will be a series of short stories I have titled, "The Lone Wolf". I hope you guys enjoy this.  
_

_As a disclaimer, I would like to say that I absolutely love Clara, I just had this idea running through my head and no real outlet. Plus, I haven't had access to a personal computer and won't for a while, so everything is currently being written on my iphone. _

_I do not own Doctor Who. I only own the plot and Brianna._

* * *

She first saw him in the local coffee shop off the corner of Main Street. It was the middle of what looked to be a long, hard, research day and Brianna knew she was going to need the extra fuel. He was in there reading the news paper with some sort of unhappy frown on his handsome face.

She had never seen the like of him before and she lived in Austen area; odd was the definite norm. He didn't look odd at first glance. He was a man reading a newspaper wearing some old folks suit despite looking decidedly younger than eighty. His hair was styled differently. She certainly has never seen that look with that sort of dress clothes before.

Brianna had asked the barista, a middle-aged German lady who just so happened to own the place, about him on the fifth month she noticed him sitting in the background away from the general populous. He never talked to anyone and never acknowledged the crowd's existence. All he ever did read his paper and drink his tea and look so sad. Mrs. Frost, the barista and owner of the store, had told her that the man went by the alias, 'The Doctor', and never really talked to anyone. He simply came in to quietly drink his tea and possibly eat a biscuit before quietly taking his leave.

Mrs. Frost seemed to like him. He never caused trouble. Brianna couldn't quite pinpoint why her heart gave a slight, pitying, pang for him, but she was too rushed at that moment to really notice anything.

She never actually spoke to him until she was nearly ran over by a man with a head shaped like a potato driving a very old looking car. Brianna reacted the only way she was accustomed to; promises of 2nd Degree murder. It was mid rant that he stepped out of the back of the old, polished, Ford that she stopped squeaking in astonishment. He looked at her curiously as if attempting to figure her out.

Then he actually spoke to her, "I'm a little curious, how exactly do you plan on ripping out his vocal chords if he doesn't have a throat?"

She didn't really have anything intelligent to give as a retort. She was too surprised that he was even speaking to her to even acknowledge the question.

"The Doctor asked you a question, boy! Answer or meet your end via acidic vapor!" demanded the potato man in a tone that suggested he would have loved to go into graphic detail.

She glared at him, "I don't have to take orders from an... Individual who just so happened to almost run me over with a pre-modern vehicle which would have resulted in my death and the inevitability of me coming back as a ghost and haunting you for the rest of your life!"

Potato man was about to retort when The Doctor intervened.

"Strax, go back into the car. Please?" he asked while sounding tired.

The tone of his voice took Brianna by surprise. He sounded world weary.

The thing man named Strax walked back into the car while mumbling to himself about something or other. Brianna wasn't quite sure what.

The Doctor turned to her and Brianna figured that now would be a good time to apologize for her unseemly behavior.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about threatening your driver. He might have almost run me over, but it was still uncalled for-," she didn't have a chance to finish.

"I'm not worried about that! What I'm worried about is whether or not you were hurt. Are you?" he asked.

She blinked and shrugged mostly to herself. There really wasn't much of a way to respond to this.

"I'm fine, sir-?" she added because she was curious.

"Just call me the Doctor, everyone does," he said.

She gave him a look, "Why?"

He looked genuinely taken aback by her question.

"What do you mean, why? Because I like it, that's why!" he snapped as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

Brianna crossed her arms. He was rather irritable.

"You come to the coffee house on Main Street," she stated.

"Yeah, and you're the history girl reading up on history while studying stuff from vanilla and green folders," he took note of her surprised look and smirked, "What? You thought I didn't notice anything?"

She covered her surprise up with a glare, "Whats up with you and that bow tie?"

He grinned suddenly and Brianna blinked at his sudden change in demeanor. He leaned forward with a slight raise of his eyebrow.

"In curious, why are you reviewing murder cases?" he asked.

She gave him a thin smile, "Why are you so interested in what I do in my spare time?"

He opened his mouth to answer, looked as if to reply, and then automatically shut it. Brianna looked smug.

"Have a nice day sir," she said and turned to leave.

That was her first verbal interaction with the man. She had walked away from his presence feeling perplexed. The conversation had been fast paced and filled with both of them hastily changing subjects. He was also British, she had noted. At least he seemed British. He could have faked his accent, after all.

They spoke again a few weeks later after a few tentative days where the two of them glanced at each other when they were certain the other was not looking. One day, she ended up there early, recently purchased her coffee and was slipping through the tables and people to her usual seat when they literally ran into each other.

Brianna felt relieved that, when her coffee spilled, it simply descended to the floor instead of splashing into her or the Doctors clothes. She was annoyed by the fact that her daily water of life was waisted along with her money.

"Oh I am so, so, so sorry! I-," he cut off the moment his eyes met hers.

Brianna sent him a reproving look and glanced down at the spilled liquid. She felt mournful at such a loss. This would mean that she would have to purchase another one.

"Is this always going to a thing with us? You nearly running me down in some way or another, at least? I believe my coffee was the first casualty," she remarked stiffly.

"We don't have a thing, and I'm sorry about your coffee, I wasn't looking," he replied after some shocked an offended hesitation.

She sent him a pout and then sighed after a few seconds. She had things she needed to do and debating with him was not on her day's agenda. Brianna turned away from him after letting out a short, high-pitched huff and brought her wallet up to chin level so as to check the amount of dollar funds remaining. Four dollars. That would be enough for a medium cup and the prospect replaced her slightly playful pout with a disappointed frown. She wouldn't get paid for another week and she didn't want to get money out of her checking account until the next day.

A hand tapped her shoulder and she stopped to look over her shoulder at the inquirer. An eyebrow raised when she realized that the person getting her attention was The Doctor.

"Let me get you a new one," he insisted.

"What?" she asked in surprise.

He rolled his eyes, "You lot really don't listen, do you?"

She glared at him and crossed her arms defiantly.

"I heard you! Why?"

He looked at her curiously, "I thought that was obvious! I spilled your coffee, so I'll buy you another one."

"You're a complete stranger!" she said with a bit of whine in her voice.

He picked up her cup, sniffed it, and smiled.

"Mocha with a swirl of caramel. Excuse me," and with that he stepped around the visibly stunned Brianna.

She blinked and then followed him to the counter.

"Wait! I'm fine I can get another one!" she insisted.

Mrs. Frost raised an eyebrow as she stepped beside The Doctor and threw her arm in front of him. He simply gave her a "look" that she returned with a stern stare.

"I don't need you to buy me another one," she insisted.

He smirked and leaned forward. The act caught her off guard.

"You have four dollars left in your wallet and you don't go to the bank that often. You like to save money. Wasting your last dollars on another cup will put you off for a day in which you will not be around tomorrow and your entire schedule will be ruined and-," she cut him off.

"Why do you care?" she snapped.

A throat cleared and both parties looked over the counter at Mrs. Frost. The woman smiled at Brianna.

"Bri, can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked.

Brianna nodded and stepped away from the Doctor and made her way to the end of the counter. Mrs. Frost leaned foreword with a small knowing smile on her face.

"Let him buy you coffee," she muttered.

Brianna blinked, "Excuse me?"

Mrs. Frost rolled her eyes and rested her chin on a raised hand.

"You really weren't listening, Bri, he likes you. Let him buy you coffee," she insisted.

"But-."

"Go on, accept his offer. I'll give you a discount tomorrow," bribed Mrs. Frost.

Brianna pouted, "Fine."

She had to steel herself from the childish urge to stomp back to the counter where an infuriatingly smug Doctor waited. Brianna refrained from pouting too much, though the slight jut of her lower lip lightly graced her features.

"Alright, you can pay, but you have to sit with me," she boldly declared.

It was a fair trade, after all, especially if he was interested in her like Mrs. Frost believed him to be. He odd dedication to her work was what tended to scare unwanted men off.

He seemed taken aback by the deal, but complied without comment anyway. She nearly grinned at how easy that was.

When all coffee was bought and the two of them were settled at her table, Brianna spread out her work across the table. It took her a moment to consider what she wanted to start on and the bronze haired individual opted for the daunting task of identifying strange Celtic-like runes her Professor suggested she take a good look at. She frowned at the picture of the strange markings that littered the stone found ten miles from Canterbury. Were they really Gaelic? She certainly had never seen the like before.

"Well don't leave me in suspense, explain this particular project," he said and effectively startled her from her reverie.

She glanced up at him with a slight narrowing of her teal eyes. Maybe he would know something? Making a brash decision on her part, Brianna slid the laminated picture in front of him mutely while she drew out her notes to review them.

The Doctor let out a high pitched whistle. After a few moments of staring at the writing on the picture.

"What's up?" she asked while scanning through a passage about the similarities between certain Garlic letters and the strange ones.

"I can't read this," he said as if it was the most astounding thing in the world.

Brianna snorted, "So?"

"This is an old language," he said.

She sent him a look that practically screamed, "no duh". He picked up the picture and set it back on her side of the table.

"It's so old that it wont be on normal human records. In fact-," he seemed to have caught his train of vocal thought because he stopped speaking and shook his head of brown hair.

It was fleeting, but Brianna was certain that she caught a glimpse of a sad, empty, expression flicker across his face.

He smiled a bit awkwardly and folded his hands carefully on the table.

"Never mind me, I'm just a rambling old man," he said and then winced shortly after the moment he realized what he said.

Brianna raised an eyebrow. She heard such rhetoric before, but not from him. Her work forgotten, she leaned forward with some evident interest.

"Are you being intriguingly vague on purpose, Doctor, or are you normally this eccentric?" she asked.

He pursed his lips as if annoyed by his obvious slip ups. Brianna felt beyond entertained by such a factor. There was something, endearing about him that she couldn't quite place. She was beginning to realize that the more time she spent with him, the more she felt her original irritation towards him fade. In all honesty, she realized that she was charmed despite herself.

Deciding that being charmed by a man she barely knew, Brianna decided against letting it show. In any case, he was too entertaining, so the young woman succeeded in looking merely amused.

"What exactly are you in school for?" he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Brianna thought for a moment to pursue the previous conversation, but decided against it. It would be wrong to interrogate a complete stranger.

"I'm going for history and specializing in myths and culture of civilizations," she replied.

"Why?" he asked.

She smirked and replied, "Why not?"

Something flashed in his green eyes. Was that intrigue or acute interest? Was it possibly excitement?

As odd as it was, this marked the beginning of their acquaintance and Brianna couldn't say that she regretted it.

**The End... for now**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Friends**

**Author's Muse: **_the sequel to "Coffee" part of my "Lone Wolf" series. I had intended this to just be a stand alone story with its own internet link, but decided to try a different short story format._

_Summary: He didn't open up as easily as his general disposition would let on. He was mysterious, energetic, and lonely. Brianna wants to become his friend because she knows he has none._

* * *

They did not make the status of friends for a while. At first the majority of their correspondence revolved around the coffee shop. He was always there at the same time in the mornings. He always had his one cup of coffee followed by some sort of pastry. It was always different every day, so she was never sure what he would order next.

There were many things about him that she discovered slowly in the first few weeks. It was something Brianna discovered earlier on in their acquaintance; the Doctor did not willingly divulge information about himself or his past. She learned that he was a science geek and that he sometimes spoke full paragraphs in terms she didn't understand. Brianna found that she enjoyed the oddness of her conversations with the Doctor.

He seemed particularly interested in the fact that she was a part time consulting detective for the APD.

"Do you know of Madame Vastra?" he asked one day.

She thought for a moment to place a name with a face and her mind's eye focused on a dark, veiled image who was tall, slim, and well spoken. British too, if she remembered correctly.

Brianna smiled, "I know of her, yeah. My professor's actually met her. I normally consult based on the modern cultural tendencies of criminals and how to best find them."

"Bit of adventure for a historian, don't you think?" he asked.

Brianna shrugged at that comment and replied, "I've been stuck here in college for six years. I need something to do."

He stared at her for a bit before shaking his head, muttering something inaudible and averting his eyes. She squinted at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing! Nothing, a thought just crossed my head. Stupid impossible thought really, don't worry about it!" he tried to reassure her.

* * *

He had odd quirks. One day she caught sight of him walking into the coffee shop wearing a ridiculous fez. He also had a strange love for seemingly disgusting food combinations. One day, they had lunch and he introduced her to the concept of fish fingers and custard. Brianna rather enjoyed that dish as well as a few others, but certain foods he attempted to get her to taste made her have to hold in her gag reflex.

* * *

"So, why do you wear a bow-tie?" she asked one day after deciding that she wanted to learn more about his odd fashion statement.

He grinned, "Bow-ties are cool."

She snorted though secretly she conceded to the fact that the bow-tie looked good on him.

"In what universe?" she asked.

"Well, there is only this universe I know about but there a quite a few-," he suddenly stopped talking as if realizing what he was going to say and didn't want to say it.

Brianna focused a calculating look on him for a few minutes before sitting back in her chair and taking a careful sip of her Mocha. He did that a lot, as if he was afraid of what would happen if he finished the sentence.

"Anyway, back to the bow-tie, why do you think it's cool?" she asked.

He shrugged, "Personal preference, I guess."

"Very odd one, Doctor," she commented.

He smiled, "Does that bother you?"

She shook her head, "No, should it?"

"I would think it should. What if I'm someone dangerous?" he challenged her.

Brianna raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms with a suddenly amused look on her face.

"Yeah? What if you are?" she asked while answering his challenge with her own.

He was watching her with a thoughtful expression on his face. Brianna almost grinned but kept her face as neutral as she possibly could.

"There's no point in telling you that you shouldn't be so fascinated by danger?" he half asked half stated.

She shook her head and slapped a vanilla folder down in front of him with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you make of this kidnapping, hmm?" she asked.

* * *

Brianna noted the Doctor's reluctance to help her with her consulting work. When she finally asked him why that was, his explanation was vague and posed more questions than answers. If she was knee deep in historical research he constantly seemed to be restraining himself. It was like he wanted to unleash a load of information on her that would blow her mind.

There wasn't a day that went by when she made an attempt of some sort or another to get something out of him whether it be information about his life or his thoughts on a case. While she was slightly successful in the latter, the former was practically impossible. He constantly changed the subject or looked so awkward that she did it for him.

There was sadness in his eyes. She could see it reflected in those green pools every once in a while. She wondered about his life. What was it like? How many people had he lost? Why did he keep referring to himself as "old"?

Those questions would never be answered, not at the present moment when whatever caused the green darkness in his eyes still lingered. Brianna thought to inquire about him at one point. Her professor had archives shelved in a library on almost anything. She could have snuck in and found something on him, she knew it. She was about to one day, her hand hovering over one book that actually was titled "The Doctor", when she stopped herself.

To look in on his life in records that Brianna knew would only give a part of his story seemed an invasion of privacy. As the weeks turned into months to center in on that point in time where she could either get all of her questions answered without him knowing or not, she found that she couldn't do it. It didn't matter. She didn't need to know. She wanted him to tell her.

So that was what she did. She reached out her figurative hand and tackled the one aspect of his life that he let her in: his personal time allotted just for her.

Brianna Davis wanted to be his friend.

**The End... for now**

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	3. Chapter 3

**Haunting**

**Author's Note: **_New computer means I can actually finish and upload all of the stuff I'm behind on. I'm working on finishing a number of different chapters and/or short stories that I've been working on or meaning to finish but couldn't, so I am very happy to get this up._

_Summary: She was a bit of light in his self-imposed solitude and the thought of losing that light haunted him every lonely moment. He had to keep the distance between them; to hold her friendship at arm's length and protect her from himself. Because everyone who became friends with him always ended up hurt in some way or another. _

* * *

The bell of the coffee shop rang and alerted the Doctor to a new customer entering the premises. He glanced up and noticed a familiar short, dirty blond haired figure slipping through the cluster of display tables and stationary people towards the counter where Mrs. Frost waited for her with a smile plastered on her withered, yet young looking face. His lips curled into a smile the moment their eyes met after she turned around after completing her order. The sight of his new friend was a welcome change to what had been another stressful early morning.

When the spunky little Texan received her daily dose of Caffe Mocha, she hastily weaved her way in the slightly crowded room towards his table. The Doctor lowered his newspaper and leaned back in his slightly uncomfortable chair at her minimally clumsy approach.

Her face blossomed into a beautiful grin in return of his own hesitant show of pleasure. Her body maneuvered in a complicated twist as she lowered herself into the same type of uncomfortable chair he was in that almost brought a wince out of him and a few perplexed thoughts about how she never seemed to hurt herself when performing such back straining contortions that were most certainly not natural to the human body. The Doctor shook his head in wonder. Even in the determined solitude of retirement there were still those various human beings that just astounded him to no end. Brianna Davis constituted as one of those various humans.

Said woman was, at that moment, unpacking her school bag of certain contents that her mentor decided she needed to work on that week. It looked like one of the books was a history on primitive African animism or something of the sort.

"Good morning Doctor!" she chirped happily while fishing for a spiral to jot notes in.

He chuckled as her evident good mood seemed to be contagious. It had been a long time since anyone's presence had lifted his spirits with a phrase as simplistic as a "good morning". Then again, Brianna's presence tended to lighten the mood of the entire room whenever she was in a good mood.

"Good morning, Bri, you seem to be spirited today," he remarked.

Brianna shrugged and set her spiral notebook on top of her textbook and reverted her attention back to her bag in search of a writing instrument (probably a pen). Her hair, which had a decent amount of wave in it, cascaded over her face and hid her teal eyes from his view.

"Well, we caught that one perp in South Austin last night," she said.

He leaned forward slightly with a bit of the mounting concern he was suddenly feeling etched on his youthful face.

"How did that go?" he inquired careful to not betray any of what he was really feeling.

She launched into a brief summary of the previous day's adventures and the Doctor kept his face neutral while inwardly wincing at each part she played, as it was apparently an active one. Apparently the police needed a decoy and she fit the bill of the general appearance this certain predator was looking for. The mere mention of the fact that she was in danger made both of his hearts jump into his throat.

When she was finished telling her exciting tale that apparently happened the day before she opened her book and flipped to the page pertinent to her current studies.

"Why didn't you tell me about this yesterday?" he asked.

Brianna gave him a looked over her raised spiral notebook and replied, "Because last time I told you about what I was planning to do that happened to be dangerous, we got into an argument."

He opened his mouth to reply, met her stern teal gaze, and then abruptly shut it. She made a good point. Suddenly in a bit of a mood, The Doctor turned his attention back to the paper he was previously reading in an effort to soothe his annoyance. Really, why did she feel the need to put herself in so much danger?

The Doctor could barely grasp the fact that she was in his life. Despite his best efforts to push people away she seemed to be the one that broke through. Keeping her at arms' length became more of a challenge with each passing day. She intrigued him with her intellect, her fearlessness and her cheerful disposition despite going through horrors that come from being a consulting detective. The latter was rare, of course, since her primary aid was given through figuring out the mind and beliefs of the person the APD were looking for. Her professor took a more active role in the cases along with Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax and sometimes her teacher brought her along on one of the more dangerous cases.

The Doctor wished that the historian wouldn't do that. He preferred his friend remained alive. In fact he wished that his friend would stop willingly walking into dangerous situations and pay more attention to the fact that she was a small, fragile, human girl who could be killed at any time.

Many times he found that he needed to resist the urge to go with her and keep her safe. He made a decision to never get involved in the affairs of the universe ever again. The universe didn't care about him and what he had done to protect it from destruction. The problem was that he knew the universe didn't give a rat's ass for her either and that it was only a matter of time before he lost her. He couldn't lose her, he found. She was already that important to him and he hadn't realized it until now.

Because the Doctor was no longer alone with friends merely being kind to him and let him remain with his haunting thoughts. Brianna Davis had changed that the day she first noticed him in the coffee shop.

And here she was, sitting in front of him again with her work in front of her and that endearing frown of concentration sculpted on her face. There was something precious to him about that face. He figured that it had something to do with her eyes. What it was, he didn't know, but every time he looked into them something about their expression that sparked something within him. They made him want to get involved again; hence him categorizing her as dangerous.

She looked up at him with those teal eyes sparkling with curiosity about something. He felt the corners if his mouth twitch slightly into a wan smile.

"You've been staring at me for the past hour. What's up?" she asked him.

Several answers to that question rang through his head. A few of them revolved around her mere presence and how it was affecting him. There was also the factor of their strange friendship. Why were they friends? Why did she want to get closer to a man who never divulged a word of his life? Why were her eyes teal? Strange colour for a human girl.

The most important question he wanted answered; however seemed to sum all of the others up. Why did she make him care?

Naturally none of those thoughts were the answer he gave her.

"Well, I was just wondering why your mentor keeps giving you that old language to translate. You always seem to be working on it at least twice a week," he said.

That was the truth, he had been wondering about that. He simply hadn't thought about the conundrum today until he needed a cover for his staring.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders at his question.

"Professor seems to think that these are messages to us from some forgotten civilization. She wants to find out who, so she has me work on the runes to try and crack the code," she explained.

He frowned at that. The professor was rather keen on personally picking out the runes Bri was supposed to translate. The factor intrigued him as much as it intrigued her. Was their some sort of message for her that the professor wanted get student to discover?

As someone who normally had ulterior motives to what he did, the Doctor was good at picking out suspicious activity. Bri, apparently was not.

"And now you're pensive. What's up?" she asked.

Her work was forgotten as she set her pen down and leaned forward. He smiled. What could he say to that?

"Nothing's wrong, just a bit curious," he insisted.

She cocked her head to the side, looked like she was about to inquire further, but seemed to decide against it with a shrug. Instead, she raised an eyebrow in amusement. The Doctor felt a smirk working its way to his face. Bri was in a playful mood today.

"Always the curious one, aren't you?" she asked in a light voice.

He grinned and leaned forward to follow get playful banter. This seemed to be a norm for the two of them where they would test the waters of the other's wit. The exercise was fascinating.

"I'm as curious as a cat when I want to be," he replied in a playful tone.

"Well, you know what they say about cats and curiosity," she said with a slight quirk of her eyebrow.

He grinned and shot back, "Ah yes, but cats also have multiple lives."

She sat back with a laugh and crossed her arms. The light of amusement sparkled in her eyes. It was a look he enjoyed seeing on her.

"That's a myth, you know. Cats don't actually have multiple lives," she informed his as if she had all the answers in the universe.

He snorted at the remark. If that's what she thought he knew a thing or two about cats and lives. And he was going to make sure that she was well informed.

Or maybe not.

The Doctor bit back the retort he was about to give and hid his sudden distress at the almost slip behind a smile. There it was again, him almost reverting back to his old habits.

"Well how do you know cats don't have nine lives?" he asked half-heartedly.

"Well, for one thing, they get ran over by cars all the time. For another, they just don't," she sounded testy.

The Doctor shrugged and went back to his paper. He was no longer in the mood for banter. It was so easy to talk to her. She was so open and there, very there. She was one of those people with a presence. People noticed her and talked to her all the time. He had a hard time not slipping up with her. To spark that curiosity that normally spelled the beginning of the end for all of his friends was something he was trying to avoid with her.

It seemed to be a losing battle, though. Bri might have been friendly, but he doubted she would have given him her own time if she hadn't found him interesting. Granted, he had a feeling that Mrs. Frost held some responsibility for convincing her to get to know him from the beginning. What made it worse concerning his character was the fact that he didn't resent the old woman for that. Volumes could be written about his selfishness. One would think that he learned his lesson by now. Apparently not.

"Doctor, are you okay?" she asked and startled him from his thoughts.

The Doctor looked up and met her teal eyes again. There was concern in them. He wished the emotion wasn't there. It made him want to wipe it away, to take her some place he knew, just knew, she would thoroughly appreciate. He knew of one place that would completely blow her mind. There was a ritual in Gaelic England in the year 94 bc she would absolutely love. It involved the marking of the high priest and priestess of the ancient religion. He couldn't quite remember what the religion was called or what it exactly was about, but he knew she would both know and appreciate it. Just one trip in the TARDIS would get them there and she could observe first hand-.

He slammed his thought to an abrupt halt and brought all of his focus back to the question at hand. She asked if he was alright. He wasn't, but he didn't want to admit it and explain why.

He gave her a wan smile, "I'm as okay as I'll ever be, Bri. Don't worry about it."

She gazed at him for a second and the Doctor could practically see the multiple responses she wanted to make flit through her thought process. An open book indeed. So innocent and guileless. The thought of what his life would do to that almost brought tears to his eyes.

"Doctor, no offense, but I think you're lying," she finally said as bluntly as he could have not wished for.

"I do lie," he said in reply, "for everyone's benefit."

She looked confused and a bit hurt by that declaration. Such a look nearly broke the dams built up around his soul.

He decided to clarify. One of his hands, the right one he believed as he wasn't paying attention, snaked over to her side of the table and grasped hers gently. He took a deep breath. This alone, would be hard to admit.

"I'm dark, Brianna, I've done things I'm not proud of and hurt people close to me as a result. When I lie, I do it to protect those I have left. You're one of them," he confessed.

It was all he was willing to allow her to see. She didn't need to see just how damaged he was, but hopefully giving her a bit of an idea would bring some closure to her current concern for him.

"I understand," she said after a long moment of thought on her part.

He smiled at that. He smiled at her a lot. She was his friend, a new one, yes, but still his friend. And she was a friend who knew nothing about his past. She was untainted by his life. He wanted to keep it that way even if that meant holding her at arm's length.

"Of course, you realize that it doesn't mean I'll stop trying to be here for you, Doctor. It's not good for a man to be alone," she said very pointedly.

He rolled his eyes, "There you go quoting the Bible at me!"

She reached over with her spiral notebook in her hand and smacked him on the top of his head. He let out an exclamation of indignation at the motion.

"I quote it because it's true and you know it is," she replied.

He smiled, but didn't reply. She was right. He knew she was.

As he walked back to his ship later that morning he thought about the conversation they had. Bri might have been right about it not being good for him to be alone, but he couldn't stand the consequences that came along when fixing it. He needed to be alone. He needed to protect the people around him. The universe had no love for him and those that traveled with him and he knew, if he took up traveling again, that she would be the one coming with him. The inevitable outcome haunted him and the Doctor would be damned if anyone else got hurt because of him.

**The End... for Now**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Melting**

**Author's Muse: **_I attempted to write out all of my version of "The Snowmen", but that didn't seem to work out, so this is part one and part two will come later. I'll be calling it "Giving In". Before anyone says anything, please understand that I'm not replacing Clara because I don't like her. That's not it at all. I love Clara. In fact, I love Clara/11. I just became caught up in a "What if" plot bunny that morphed into this huge thing._

_Also, all stories will be in chronological order, so "Giving In" will be posted directly after this one. I figured that it would be best to tell everyone that there will be a lot of one-shots and two-shots in this conglomeration of short stories. While they're in chronological order, there will be too many time gaps in between for this to constitute as a proper chapter story._

_As another note before you begin, I make a few references to season six and River Song in here. They're very subtle, but they're there. :)_

_Anyway, you know the drill. Read and review!_

* * *

The Doctor posed a barrage of questions for her that she feared would never get answered. He was shrouded in mystery, but even she could see that his past was reflected in his eyes; those pain filled green eyes. She figured that many would be turned off from the anguish reflected in those green irises, but she wasn't. Brianna knew why that was, though. Her mentor, Professor Moruni, had that same look. Why that was, she never quite understood, but she wasn't put off by the look. In fact, it drew her to him more than she knew it should have. Questions about him elevated into more questions and she continuously sought out answers. She was subtle about it. She had to be. Interrogation would do more harm than good and she wanted him to trust her based on actual friendship attachment. As the months passed, she grew to care about him. He captured her heart, made her smile despite his evident repression. She wanted to help him; to melt the ice around his heart.

Then one day, two days before Christmas, Brianna's many questions started to get answered.

It began with missing children and perpetually frozen bodies of water.

Round Rock and Austin, Texas had bodies of water. Most were man made, but not all of them. Wherever the children went missing, another pond or lake would freeze over.

Naturally, this piqued the attentions of Brianna and Professor Moruni and the two wormed their way onto the investigations in Round Rock.

And then one day, to the shock of everyone in the state, it began to snow in only that area.

"Doctor, what do you make of this?" asked Brianna one day over coffee.

He glanced up at her from where he was inspecting the snow settled in his hands.

"I'm thinking that this isn't normal snow," he stated.

She gave him one of her looks.

"Doctor, the fact that it's snowing in Texas is enough to verify that claim. Besides the fact that it'd cold out and we haven't had a proper cold front in weeks," she replied dryly.

He ignored that quip and simply went back to inspecting the flakes that refused to melt.

"It has a slightly psychic signal," he remarked, "I've never seen snow do that before. Not here at least."

he seemed to be talking to himself and the man shook himself out of his thoughts and placed the snow back into the vial.

"Not my problem, though."

Brianna felt perplexed by his conclusion. How could this not be his problem when he lived in their area?

"Doctor, children are being kidnapped and we have an epidemic of strange snow. How isn't this your problem? You live here!" she snapped.

"Temporarily! I've retired from helping people a long time ago, Bri, I'm not going to get involved. In fact, you shouldn't either, come to think of it. It's too dangerous!" he hissed.

Brianna didn't reply. She simply stared at him while massaging the vial she kept her odd snow in.

"Maybe you shouldn't help, not if you're too scared to do the right thing," she said.

With that, she left.

* * *

The Doctor stared after her with a frown marring his handsome features. He was used to Bri's blunt honesty, but in this situation he didn't appreciate it as much as he usually did.

"Hey, Doctor!" snapped a voice startling him out of his thoughts.

He glanced up at the source of the voice and realized that the speaker was Mrs. Frost. The blond middle aged woman looked slightly concerned, but mostly irritated as she bent down to clear away the plate of coffee cake Bri half-finished before storming off.

"What the hell happened between you two?" she asked.

He kept his face neutral as he answered, "Nothing. There's nothing between us anyway."

She gave him a look, "Nothin'? Do you even see the way you two interact at all? You didn't talk to anyone let alone me until she came along."

The Doctor glanced up at her, but kept his face in the same frown. He heard her let out a frustrated sigh and braced himself for an onslaught of whatever the German woman had to tell him.

What she had to say, however, was entirely unexpected.

"Ever thought she might be good for you?" and with that she left.

The Doctor didn't show any acknowledgement. He sat there as pensive as ever pondering what Mrs. Frost had told him. He didn't need anyone. In any case, even if she was right he knew for a fact that he wasn't good for Bri. In the end, he'd hurt her in some way or another. There was no way he'd ever let that happen.

* * *

The day had been interesting. She staked out around the frozen bodies of water. She even inspected it. The ice was solid, too solid, and that worried her. No matter where one was in the state of Texas, the weather never dropped to the temperature low enough to cause such a heavy freeze. She couldn't even see the shallow bottom. It was completely frozen.

There was the snow that also worried her. It fell and more little kids and some adults made snowmen. Something was incredibly wrong with those snowmen. They seemed alive, like they were actually watching her; following her. It was slightly alarming.

She kicked the snow from her feet as she stepped from the snow dune onto the frosted sidewalk. It seemed cold, but not cold at the same time. It was weird. Her car was parked in its normal space ten feet from the place she was staying. Brianna smiled at the large house. Home. Actual, beautiful, home.

She walked through the door and kicked her shoes off her feet. The temperature was uncharacteristically warm and she felt small beads of sweat spring up on the back of her neck. It was so hot!

"Bri? Are you in?" asked an older female voice from the computer room.

"Yeah! Just me!" she called.

"I'm gonna have you watch Mary and Kyle tonight! Your father and I are going out. We have a university ball for the staff. It's a Christmas thing! You're not busy are you?" called her mother.

"Nah, I've got some research to do!"

"Your consulting missin' persons cases, ain't ya?"

Brianna smiled to herself as she hovered at the foot of the staircase.

"Yeah, I'll be working on it!" she called out.

"Don't overdo it! Get at least some sleep tonight!" her mom suggested.

Brianna called out an affirmative answer as she began her ascent into the upper levels of her home. She glanced into the room directly beside her, the game room, and noted that Marry and Kyle were both in there focused on their own respective pass times.

They were fine. That was good. She never wanted anything to happen to them. They were her family.

"Marry, Kyle, I'm gonna be in the office tonight, alright?" she asked them.

Kyle, who was slightly older than his Sister, looked over his shoulder from where he was playing some ninja game.

"You're playing soccer with us before dinner, right?" he asked.

She smiled, "Yep! Just let me know when you're ready and I'll come."

"Why would we play soccer today?" asked Marry from where she sat in the game room couch with her computer on the coffee table drawing, "its cold outside."

Brianna wrinkles her nose at her little sister's declaration in confusion. Did they really not notice how it felt like forty degrees outside instead of twenty?

"Is it really? I've been fine all day," she said.

"That's because you're weird, sis. You probably came from parents who lived in the north or something," quipped Kyle as he disembowelled a samarai.

Brianna rolled her eyes at that. While they could definitely be right about that there was still something odd about the weather and that had nothing to do with her not feeling the cold like others could. She could feel the change in the weather on normal Texas winters. There hadn't been a change in the weather. There had just been snow and ice in a climate that still wasn't giving off the right temperature.

"Well, some outdoor fun is good for you, Mary, so while your brother works through his drills i'll show you how to properly play in the snow," she suggested.

Mary's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "Why?"

Brianna smiled, "Because I said so."

That was the end of that conversation. It was a norm in the house. Whatever big step-sister said, went. Big step-sister was older than the two of them, much older. The general consensus of the two younger Davis kids and their little friends was that whatever big sis, Bri, had in mind, it was certain to be fun. So, always listen to her. It was the way Brianna found that worked best with kids of all ages.

The college graduate slipped into her office and began to unpack her books, notes, and work onto her some-what-neat desk. Her parents had converted one of the guest rooms of their house into an office for her when they realized her room was too cluttered to actually clean.

Her phone buzzed and she answered it while organizing her case files with her other hand.

It was Professor Moruni.

"Hey, what's up?" Brianna asked pleasantly.

"So, Madame Vastra is about as confounded by the ice as we are. The only thing we seem to be able to conclude is that it's related to snow that seems to be able exist in non-freezing temperatures," replied the cultured british accent of her professor.

"Yeah, add slightly psychic to the list where the snow's concerned. And the ice, possibly," Brianna suggested while flipping through one of the case files.

"Slightly what?" came the reply.

"Psychic."

"Hmm."

Brianna glanced out the window when she saw a few flurries of snow flutter in front of her line of vision. She was about to look away when her eyes caught something and focused. The homemade pond in her back yard was frozen over.

She froze. Pond. Frozen. Kids inside. Psychic ice. Mary's bad dreams. Psychic snow. Possible psychic ice.

Who went missing then?

Oh. Right.

"Um, I'll catch you later, I need to check something," she said in a small voice.

She hung up before the professor could protest.

"Hey kids! I'm going outside for a few minutes! I'll be right back!" she called.

She hadn't heard their reply. She was already down the stair struggling into her shoes and attempting to wrap a scarf around her neck.

She ran outside and approached the frozen pond carefully while fervently hoping against hope that whatever she was thinking wasn't the actual truth. If it was the case, then the entire situation became ten times worse. In fact, Brianna was already prepared to admit that the situation was probably out of her league.

The pond. Frozen and lightly covered with the newly fallen snow. There hadn't been a forecast for that snow. The snow seemed to have just decided that that day was a good day to fall. It was exactly like this ice that covered the top of her family's pond. It seemed to have formed because it felt like it.

Maybe it wasn't normal ice and snow? Maybe it was something else? Maybe it was alive? Or maybe it was being controlled?

She hummed as she leaned over to inspect it. The ice was thick; very thick. How could it be so thick?

She was about to reach out and touch the stuff when she saw something move and her face paled. That was NOT supposed to happen!

Brianna straightened up and stared off into the distance. Her mother would be gone by now. She would have to ask the maid to stay a bit longer. She needed to talk to him. She needed to tell him what was wrong. She needed to show him that this was serious and that he needed to tell her what he really knew.

Because she knew why the ice was there. She knew who went missing inside the pond. They hadn't drowned, though. They were already dead when they fell in.

* * *

He was attempting to read one of the large historical volumes in the library, but found that he couldn't focus. The slightly psychic snow was bothering him because, as much as he hated to admit it, Bri was right. The snow was troubling. It wasn't supposed to snow at this time of year if at all. Texas was borderline desert and had been for at least eight thousand years. There was at least five geographic regions in the state. The fact that it was snowing in the Austin area without any preceding arctic front was troubling.

He sighed. This wasn't his problem, yet the pull of the conundrum was becoming stronger with each question that came up.

A rustling of fabric startled him from his inner battle and The Doctor glanced up from his book and saw the dark, Victorian, silhouette of a woman. He knew who she was. The veiled detective. Madame Vastra, a woman rumoured as the guardian angel of the night. She, and her wife, caught the human predators; the vilest of offenders. It was because of her that women and young men walked safely at night. She was also The Doctor's friend and a lizard woman from the Jurassic Era of the earth.

"Doctor," greeted her crisp and cultures British accent, "It's good to see you finally taking an interest again."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not taking an interest. I'm not sticking around long enough to investigate anything."

He heard her sigh from under the dark veil and the lizard woman shortened the gap between them. He kept his face neutral. He knew what was coming next.

"That girl is trying to get you involved. What makes it so ironic is the fact that she doesn't know a thing about your past, yet she has already pinpointed the exact reason as to why you isolate yourself from the rest of the world," commented Madams Vastra coolly.

The Doctor continued to frown while wishing that he could simply ignore the woman attempting to get him to acknowledge something that was plaguing his mind. He hated the fact that she was right. He hated that every reason behind anything that he did these days was born out of fear. He anguished over how Brianna, bossy, irritable little Brianna, was igniting his curiosity again in more ways than one.

He shook his head and began to walk away.

"This isn't my problem!" he called, "Stop attempting to make it!"

He wondered out of the library and into the small downtown street and looked around. The pavement was still covered with snow, that slightly psychic snow. His hands clenched at his sides. The urge to investigate was strong.

Finally, after pacing for a few minutes in front of the library building, he slowly walked away towards the TARDIS. It was the long way. The scenic route, so to speak.

* * *

Brianna was beginning to understand how impossible it was to actually find The Doctor. She knew he lived in this general area she simply didn't know where exactly. This was important, though. Then she saw him next to his car with that potato head man he referred to as Strax.

Relief coursed through her as she jogged towards him.

"Doctor!" she called.

He looked up from where he was leaning over the snow with some stick thing in his hand. She came to a stop three feet away from him. A suspicious look crossed her face as she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. Hi! Um, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Doctor, listen, I know you don't want to get involved, but the snow, the ice, and the missing people are connected. I think... Something's growing in the ice," she explained.

He rolled his eyes, "If you got if all figured out, then you don't need me."

"Yes I do! I still don't know what and- snowman!" her eyes widened at the thing that suddenly shot up from the ground behind him.

He gave her a confused look, "What?"

"Snowman," she replied backing away.

He stared at her for a few moments longer and then turned around. He followed her procedural backing away.

"That wasn't there before, was it?" he asked.

"Nope," she confirmed.

He laughed nervously and backed to the empty space beside her.

"Thought not."

There was a loud rushing sound behind them. They glanced over their shoulders and stared wide-eyed at the snowmen that newly materialized.

"Ah, yes, Bri we seem to have a slight problem at this present time," he remarked.

"Really? Hadn't noticed," she replies with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oi, no sarcasm! Not the time!"

"Doctor."

"What?"

"They're comin' to us!" she snapped.

"Moving I should say!"

They were backed into the wall of one of the older buildings. The Doctor pushed her behind him in an effort to shield her from the incoming snowmen.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Uh, just a long shot, remember when I said the snow was slightly psychic?"

Her eyes widened as she figured it out. Slightly psychic snow. Did that mean they could hear their thoughts? If so...

Brianna closed her eyes and thought if water. A lot of water suddenly bursting all around them. The most satisfying thing about that was when it worked.

She just wished that she didn't have to get soaked in the process.

Brianna opened her eyes with a satisfied look on her face and the Doctor standing over her with a look of concern plastered on his face. She smiled.

"Well, I guess that's one way to get rid of them," she said casually.

He smiled, "Yeah for now at least."

The look on his face was a picture. It was one she had never seen before. His eyes were lit with the fire of adrenalin of the moment.

"The ice, I'm sure that it and the snow are connected," she said sincerely.

His face fell, though she noted that, once ignited, the fire in his eyes didn't go out. While she knew that he was about to tell her to stop attempting to get him involved, part of her was not disappointed. In this small moment she learned more about her lone wolf than she ever had in the three months she had known him.

"Bri, no, stop investigating this and stop trying to get me involved. In fact, it might be best to avoid me for the time being," he said sternly.

With that he turned away and walked off. Brianna stood there for a moment in affronted anger before charging after him ready to lay on him her thoughts of just how stupid she thought he was.

"Are you seriously walking away from this? Ad what does me avoiding you have to do with this? I'll have you know that life doesn't revolve around you! People are going to die you know!" she practically shrieked at him.

He stopped and whirled on her; stopping Brianna in her tracks.

"I know I'm walking away from this! I know the world doesn't revolve around me! Every time I get involved in something like this people I care about die! Don't follow me, Bri, avoid me. I'm dangerous," his voice levelled at the end of his reply, but it didn't lesson in the passion behind it.

She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're such an idiot, you know that?" she asked before storming off and into the gloom of the dying winter eve.

She rounded the corner of a building before stopping, turning around, and peering around the corner. The Doctor still stood where she left him with a confounded look on his face. He paced for a few seconds before turning on his heel and heading off down the road. She waited until he was far enough away before following him.

He said that he was dangerous. It was practically his favorite catch phrase! In her mind if he couldn't back up his claims to be dangerous, so he was harmless until proven otherwise.

His trek was an odd one. It led them to the middle of a park and caused her to hide behind a wide oak tree while studying what he was doing. The Doctor was whistling something, Silent Night she thought, and skipping around a small space in the partial clearing.

Then he jumped. His arms stretched above him. His hands extended and... He caught something solid in the air and dragged it down on his decent. Brianna's eyes widened. Her lips parted ever so slightly and her knuckles gripped the old tree bark. It was a ladder. A ladder hanging in thin air and he was climbing it!

She was having a hard time coming to terms with what she was seeing. It was highly improbable for a ladder to hang in the air. Logically, it didn't make sense.

Brianna thought back to what her professor told her once when it came to seeing something that seemed highly impossible. Think through it, she had said, rule out the norm and the illogical will become logical and you will forever wonder at how you missed it. She did that now. She thought through the illogical sight of a ladder hanging in mid-air. Ladders, she knew for a fact, didn't hang in mid-air and most certainly didn't hide itself on its own. If such was the case, then that meant there was something above the ladder, something invisible.

The Doctor disappeared and the ladder was back in its hidden place by the time she finally came to that conclusion.

Her front teeth lightly grazed over her lip as she studied the spot for a moment. How desperate was she?

Deciding that she was very much so, she raced into the middle of the partial clearing and jumped. Her hands came into contact with whatever was in the air and she hung suspended for a moment before allowing her body to hang as dead weight. The ladder slid to the snow dusted earth much to her satisfaction.

Brianna looked up and smiled. Time to take that chance. Time to take that big chance into space and climb into the atmosphere. To boldly do what she sincerely doubted any Texas girl had ever done before. She was going to follow the Doctor and figure him out. She made her careful ascent.

* * *

The Doctor entered the TARDIS whistling and paced around the console until he came to a stop in front of the small screen suspended on a metal limb. He stared at it with a gaunt look in his ancient eyes contemplating the events of the day. His thoughts mostly revolved around the short, bronze haired young woman with those bright, challenging, teal eyes who blew into his life like a leaf on the wind.

He wasn't associating with her by choice. If he had his way, they would never had become... Sort of friends. Yes that was a good way to put it. They were sort of friends. The sad fact of the matter was that he was dangerous, but that didn't seem to put her off. Bri could, he conceded, simply be that oblivious. It wouldn't be the first time she ran blindly into something with her head held high.

He stopped whistling and frowned down at the screen. Bri was attempting to get him involved in the world. She had been ever since he helped her out with that one case in phluegerville. The problem, he decided, was that it was becoming increasingly hard to say no to her. Those bright teal eyes lit with fascination at the oddest of things. The way she'd push her research and/or case files in front of him to get his opinion intrigued him more than the subjects themselves. Her reaction to danger caught his attention as well. Bri seemed to receive an adrenalin rush in the face of it. So much like him. She had such wonder about her and The Doctor wanted to take her apart and unravel the mystery that was her.

And there were plenty of mysteries. For one thing, it was becoming increasingly apparent to him that her body was not reacting to hot and cold the way most human bodies tended to. For another, the mere fact she actually seemed aware that there was something off about the snow before he told her spoke wonders. No one else had noticed.

There was a knock that resounded through the console room and startled him out of his reverie. His brows furrowed. Who on earth knew he was here?

He moved to the door, hesitated for a minute, and then opened the door to peer out into the gloom of his cloud. There was no one there.

"Hello?" he asked.

No answer.

The Doctor stepped out onto the condensed surface and took a few careful steps forward before quickly darting around the left side of the TARDIS.

Nothing.

Someone was there, though. Knocks didn't just happen in their own. A hand was needed and that hand was normally attached to a body in some way or another. He darted around towards the back.

No one.

Becoming increasingly alarmed he was about to check the other side when he heard the reverberating sound of pounding feet descending the stairs. He hastened from behind his ship and quickly moved towards the entrance of the staircase. He caught a flash of bronze hair in the frozen water vapor before it disappeared from sight.

He stepped on something soft, knelt down and inspected it. A fluffy, red scarf lay there minding its own business. It was still warm.

"Bri," he muttered in alarm.

Penny in the air.

* * *

Brianna Davis was having a panic attack. Not the legitimate medical panic attacks that shrinks loved to dissect. No. This was a full blown spasm of perfectly ordinary panic created because she had just witnessed the impossible.

The bronze headed heroine jumped the final few feet to the ground and rolled to break her fall. She was up again in a moment running as far away as she could from the... The... She really wasn't sure about what exactly it was, she just knew that it was not of this world. Was that what the snow and the ice came from? Had the Doctor said he was dangerous because he was actually dangerous?

Blue 1960's Police Box. That was a blue 1960's police box on a cloud that she could walk on. With stairs and a ladder and everything!

She skidded to a stop at the edge if the park's exit and stood while she regained her breath. Who was the Doctor and why did he have a police box in the sky? Better yet, what was she supposed to do about it?

Brianna glanced back up at the sky. Dusk was setting in and sooner than later it would be dark. The next day was Christmas Eve. She needed to be home looking after her siblings, but...

Brianna closed her eyes for a second before finally making a decision. She stalked through the snow, more had fallen in the last hour, towards her car. She needed information and there was one place she knew she could get it.

A promise to herself had been made that she wouldn't do this. His personal life could be in there and she didn't want to pry. Now; however, she had to. This was beyond what she first thought he was like and she needed answers.

She needed to read that book.

Professor Laurel Moruni was not in her best of moods. The day with Madame Vastra and her wife was completely unproductive and her student's hint about the ice and snow being psychic was less than helpful.

To say that she was slightly annoyed when her protege appeared at her doorstep was an understatement. The woman was busy and had pressing matters to attend to. In fact, Brianna was supposed to be researching a possible perpetrator for these very inconsistent attacks. She was also supposed to be at home and safe with her adoptive siblings looking after them.

Laurel gave her student a look. Really, what was she doing here?

"Professor, I need the biography titled, The Doctor," she said urgently.

Laurel's eyes widened in shock. The Doctor? What could she possibly need to know about The Doctor? In fact, how does she even know anything about him at all?

"I've met a man," her student began to explain after seeming catching Laurel's evident shock, "he calls himself The Doctor and he seems to live in a blue 1960's police box on a cloud. I also think that he might know something about this snow and I'm quite certain that you have a book about him, so please let me read a bit of it so I can understand who and what he is!"

Laurel stared at her student completely dumbfounded. Really, she hadn't anticipated her actually meeting the man. Granted she knew that she made a new friend from downtown Round Rock...

Oh. So he was the contact who periodically helped her on a few cases. That explained some things at least.

"Alright, firstly, come inside and I'll get some hot chocolate on the stove. Then I will tell you a bit of what I know about him and how to sensibly contact him without confronting him. This matter has become delicate and you don't know enough about him to convince him to do anything at this moment," said the red head sharply.

Brianna nodded dumbly and stepped into Laurel's house the moment the professor stepped aside to let her in. The minutes passed in silence while Laurel mutely made the heated drink for the two of them. As she set one mug filled with brown liquid in front of her student she topped her own with brandy. She fad a feeling that she would need it.

Then she listened in growing astonishment as Brianna took the time, at least an hour, to explain how she met The Doctor. Three months of an actual, somewhat comfortable, friendship between the two was something Laurel had a hard time trying to come to terms with. The man rarely spoke to his usual friends and, of course, he made an effort to avoid her altogether. Her student, though, her incredibly bold student was the one to actually melt the ice around The Doctor's hearts. This gave her quite a bit if alarm, but also something to think about.

"Does your parents know you're hear?" she asked curiously.

Brianna nodded, "I told them that Maria's looking after them and that I had a sudden breakthrough with the case and needed to help pursue it."

Laurel nodded while feeling slightly alarmed at how easily her little protégé told half-truths. Granted, she shouldn't be one to talk, but still. This wasn't something she had ever wanted her to learn.

"Well, I'll tell you this. The Doctor isn't human, for one. Neither is Madame Vastra or Strax. The Doctor is a Time Lord, the last of his kind as far as I know. Vastra is a humanoid lizard from the Jurassic Era and Strax is a Sontaron. I've known the Doctor for quite a number of years and know enough about him to compile his life into a book only to be read after his death which is known to be sometime in the near future. The Blue Box you saw was his space ship and time machine," she paused while she let her student digest that bit of information.

When she got to time machine, the bronze haired girl looked incredulous.

"Time travel isn't possible is it?" she asked.

Laurel smirked, "Not for humans at least."

She noted that her student caught the way she had said that particular phrase, but was slightly disappointed that she didn't pursue it. Probably wise of her.

"He's an alien," Brianna clarified.

Laurel leaned backbone her chair and raised an eyebrow, "Of course."

She noticed that her student was staring off into space with a contemplative look on her face. Laurel had a feeling that she knew where her student's mind was going, but she patiently waited for her to finish the thought. Feeding someone information won't help them learn anything after all.

"I've seen his eyes, professor, they look like they've seen a lot. How old is he?" Brianna asked.

Good girl, thought the professor.

"A little over twelve hundred years old," answered Laurel.

It was a credit to the girl that she didn't have a panic attack the moment she heard The Doctor's age. In fact she looked like she was considering the information handed to her, again. Apparently, after the initial shock wore off, Brianna was quite… reasonable. Or maybe it was the additional factor of Laurel actually believing her that helped. After all, if she was placed in her student's position, she knew that she would think herself going mad!

"Okay, tell me more," the young woman finally offered.

Laurel nodded and launched into the rest of her explanation, "The Doctor is a great man. Possibly one of the greatest men I have ever known. He is both gentile and kind and hard and wrathful. He used to save the lives of planets, solar systems, and the like. The man was one to take up the burden of judge because he believes that there isn't anyone else out there to do so. The Doctor travelled the universe, all of time and space. He has seen the beginning and the end of time. Throughout his travels he would bring others with him, mostly humans, some from other worlds, and show them the wonders of the universe. He… lost many friends to war, mortality, and life itself. In the end, it was the deaths of his companions under his care that got to him in the end. One loss too many has made him withdraw into himself and become a hermit. He doesn't help anyone anymore."

The professor watched as a myriad of emotions flickered through Brianna's face at the information now reaching her ears. Finally, after a few minutes of shock on her student's side, the young woman finally found words.

"This is why you're just telling me a brief summary instead of letting me read the book," she said.

Laurel smiled wryly and nodded to affirm her student's remark.

"I have kept careful documentation of his life over the years. Such documentation is too personal for you to read right now, at this point in time. You may know him, but there is still much for him to elude to you before I ever let you actually read it," she said gently.

Brianna nodded and bowed her head in obvious thought. Laurel knew what this meant. Her student was considering the information currently at her disposal and weighing them against their current predicament. After a while a conclusion seemed to be made when her head rose to meet the professor's gaze.

"We need his help, professor. If he's done all that you say he's done, then we're goin' to need him," Brianna said after her thoughts finally caught up with reality.

Laurel smiled, though not as brightly as she wanted to at first.

"Tomorrow then, we'll pay the Veiled Detective a little visit, no?" she asked.

Brianna smiled. Mission accomplished.

* * *

Brianna had received an earful from her parents the next morning for leaving their housekeeper in charge of her two siblings. It was normal, after all, since she had done this several times before, but not before making sure that her siblings were looked after and that her parents knew what was going on. It was the problem with her detective work. She was always being called away at odd hours when she was in the middle of something to help work a case. It was very inconvenient, but it was necessary.

In the case of her running off to see the Doctor and Professor Moruni, Brianna was glad for the excuse of her current murder mystery. It made her plans for the next day ten times easier to explain to her parents.

Robert and Katie Davis weren't too thrilled with their daughter's need for constant danger. Mr. Davis was a Texas Ranger in the Williamson County precinct and had attempted, at first, to keep his daughter away from murder cases. That plan all went downhill when Brianna's professor dragged her student to Travis County to consult on a state-wide manhunt for two serial killers. Mrs. Davis made the odd attempt to keep her daughter busy with family matters (like babysitting her two younger siblings), but that all came for naught when the pull of work drew her daughter away from the family and into the line of danger. Kyle and Mary, though, thought what their sister did was fascinating and, when Brianna had the odd day off, loved to hear about the various cases she helped close.

The young historian knew where her family lay when it came to her hobby and, so, when she sat down with them at the dinner table for lunch she carefully explained to them that she was going to see the Veiled Detective in the early afternoon. Neither parent was happy about the news though Robert Davis didn't voice his concerns. Katie Davis, however, didn't feel the need to hide anything.

Strangely enough, it was the father who stopped the mother mid-rant and reasoned with her. Brianna remained silent through that part of the conversation.

In the end, with the promise that she would tell her two curious siblings about the visit when she returned home, Brianna left with Professor Moruni for downtown Austin.

"Now Bri, I want you to remember that you will be subject to whatever test Madame Vastra wants you to complete. She will help you if you don't pass it, alright?" asked the professor while she maneuvered through the hair raising traffic down the South I-35 corridor.

The younger occupant simply nodded her head while she gazed out the window. Snow fell from the sky and created a light, feathery, dusting along the road. This, of course, made everything twice as slick as either woman would have preferred. Thoughts of the Doctor were on her mind as well as what test the Veiled Detective would decide to put her through. Was she worried? Didn't seem like that was the case. Maybe it was the prospect that, whatever she tried, The Doctor would refuse to help. She didn't want that, but she wasn't sure if there was much choice in the matter. If he decided to continue in his existence as a hermit then they would have to come up with a way to fight the snow on their own. Was that possible.

The car pulled into a small parking lot in front of a house that resided in a neighbourhood slightly passed down town Sixth Street. Brianna gazed at it with the narrowed eyes of an observer. It seemed that Madame Vastra liked the Victorian Era a lot. Not only did she and her wife wear clothing from the mid-nineteenth century, but it seemed that their style of house was from the same time period as well.

"They're from the eighteen hundreds, aren't they?" asked Brianna bluntly.

Professor Moruni nodded and chuckled as she pulled herself out of the small Toyota Corolla and into the nippy December air.

"He brought them here ten years ago. Granted, for him it was about three hundred years ago for him, but time is of little meaning to him," the lady informed her pupil.

Brianna nodded to indicate that she understood.

'_We must be nothing to him,'_ she thought, '_we must be like dust in the wind, always living and dying while he lingers on. Kind of like those elves from Lord of the Rings.'_

It was a sobering realization, but it also gave her something else to consider. Why had he taken an interest in the human race if they were so… fleeting? Why had he ever cared in the first place?

The duo approached the greet Victorian Era house silently. There wasn't much left to be said at this point. All questions were Brianna's and said inquiries were meant for Madame Vastra. Professor Moruni rang the doorbell and the two waited for a brief moment before it was answered by a young woman, human, dressed in Victorian clothing, blue from what Brianna could take in. The woman smiled at them and dropped a prim and proper little curtsey.

"Madame's expectin' ya, Professor," she greeted and stepped aside to allow them entrance.

Brianna followed the red head into the house and felt like she was suddenly propelled into the eighteen hundreds. The hall even looked Victorian. There were old style furniture, paintings, flooring, and wall decorations. The hall rug even looked like it came from that era. It took a nudge from her professor to make her realize that here mouth had dropped open in astonishment and wonder.

She closed it abruptly. If these were the Doctor's friends, then she had to admit that they had style. Being the history buff that she was, Brianna absolutely loved the get-up.

"Please," began the woman after they entered and removed their jackets and scarves, "right this way into the green room."

They followed her through the winding halls into the very back of the first floor of the house. When they stepped through that final door Brianna was floored again by the sight that greeted her eyes. They weren't kidding when they called it a green room. The room was, quite literally, a greenhouse filled with lush tropical trees, leaves, ferns and flowers. It even had its own artificial sunlight.

Brianna smiled. The professor had said that Madame Vastra was a lizard woman from the Jurassic Era.

When her eyes finally found time to draw themselves away from the scenery around her, they focused on the dark form of the veiled detective sitting at a small, out door table drinking tea. Really, what was it with the British and their tea? She would never quite understand their fascination with the drink. To her, it was too weak. Coffee was the way to go and not tea. Despite this she approached the table with the professor and nodded to the other woman when asked if she would like a cup.

Madame Vastra greeted Professor Moruni first.

"Good afternoon, Laurel, am I to presume that this is the girl?" asked the lizard woman hidden by her dark veil.

Brianna bristled a bit at the "girl" term, but carefully kept her annoyance hidden behind her tea cup. She needed to remember that, to this woman, she was most certainly a girl.

"Yes, Madame, Miss Davis is here to speak with you about the Doctor. She wished to get a message to him about the odd winter weather we are currently having," explained Professor Moruni in what Brianna knew was a bored voice.

Brianna smiled slightly at teacher's attitude. Professor Moruni was never one for being polite.

Madame Vastra turned to her and seemed to study her nodding to her human companion who stood directly behind Brianna. The young woman, who professor Moruni explained was name Jenny, responded thusly.

"Madame will ask you questions and you will confine yourself to one word responses. Do you understand?" she asked.

Brianna glanced at her before returning her attention completely to the lizard woman in front of her.

"Why?" she asked simply to demonstrate that she understood the command, but not why it was needed.

"Truth cane be confined to a single word while lies are in many. To weed out the lies, I ask for the simplest of answers. I will know if your intentions are not honourable. Is that acceptable?" explained the woman.

Brianna responded with a definite "yes".

"Now, you have met the Doctor. In fact, you seem to have known him for a while now. Why is it that you wish to associate with him?"

Brianna stared at the woman while thinking of the right word that would describe her feelings towards the Doctor. There was a lot to sort through, many of which she either didn't understand or really want to place a name to. There was one answer that she knew would be acceptable and would also sum up her current disposition towards the man in question.

"Friend."

The woman looked taken aback for a moment before asking, "Why do you think of him your friend?"

That was a bit of a tough one, but she was determined to find the perfect word to describe that bit to her.

"Care."

"And what is it that you want from him now?" she asked.

"Help," replied Brianna.

Madame Vastra scoffed, "He doesn't help anyone, my dear, not anymore. He stands above this world and doesn't take an interest in the affairs of others."

"No," interjected Brianna strongly.

The lizard woman gave her a look, "No? What do you mean by that?"

Brianna tilted her head up slightly with a haughty look on her face, "Me."

The lizard woman stared at her for a second before nodding, "Yes, you are a bit of an anomaly at this present time, but what makes you think he will help because of you?"

Brianna gave her a hard look and answered promptly, "Kind."

"The Doctor is not kind," replied the madame sharply, "he has not been kind in a long time. There was a time, I'm sure you know, when he did used to give aid, but that is all in the past. He has suffered too many losses. His hearts are hardened. Carefully choose the word to communicate your understanding of this."

Brianna smiled, ever so slightly, as she chose the very word that popped into her head the moment Vastra finished her dialogue.

"Man."

The veiled detective straightened up and her head seemed to move in a way that suggested she was gazing behind Brianna at her wife behind her. Whatever passed between them, she didn't see. She was too busy making sure that her concentration hadn't wavered for a moment.

The woman spoke again, "We are the Doctor's friends. We may assist him in his isolation, but that does not mean we approve of it. Now, give me your message to the Doctor."

Brianna nodded and thought about what she was going to say immediately assuming that the one word rule still applied.

She looked up and spoke very clearly, one word.

"Pond."

The penny drops.

**The End... For Now At Least...**


End file.
